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News18.com
Last Updated: March 31, 2024, 12:17 IST
New Delhi, India
Days after the Enforcement Directorate arrested Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, top leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, will participate in the Opposition’s ‘Loktantra Bachao’ (save democracy) rally at Delhi’s historic Ramlila Maidan on Sunday. The Maharally is being seen as the Opposition’s show of strength and unity, in the backdrop of the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in connection with the excise policy-linked money-laundering case.
Apart from Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the rally will also witness the participation of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar’s former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, among other leaders.
NCP SCP Chief Sharad Pawar landed in Delhi to attend the INDIA Alliance Maha Rally at the Ramlila Maidan.
#WATCH | Delhi: Former Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, party MP Sanjay Raut leave for Ramlila Maidan to attend the INDIA alliance rally pic.twitter.com/O1HCyuf3dg
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2024
On the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan today, AAP Minister Atishi said, “It is 10 am and people have already gathered in huge numbers. People from all over the country have come against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal. The people of Delhi are aware that Arvind Kejriwal has changed their lives. He is under arrest, still, he is worried about Delhi and is sending messages for them…”
Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength in central Delhi ahead of a rally by INDIA bloc leaders at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on Sunday.
The Delhi Police has allowed the rally with certain conditions, including no march, no tractor trollies, and no weapons.
It is being held in the backdrop of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest and allegations of misuse of agencies against the opposition by the BJP-led central government.
Uddhav Thackeray is accompanied by Aaditya Thackeray for the INDIA Bloc’s rally. Sharad Pawar will also be a part of the rally.
Sonia Gandhi is also likely to attend the event, sources informed. In addition to this, Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal will also be in attendance.
Kalpana Soren, spouse of ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, is also likely to attend the rally. Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED in January in an alleged land mining case.
Attacking the Opposition-led Maharally in the national capital on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that this rally is not to save democracy but to save corrupt people.
In view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the INDIA bloc received consent from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Delhi Police to hold a rally at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday (March 31) against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Delhi Police said it has made elaborate arrangements with checking at every gate and deployment of paramilitary personnel in and around the venue. However, the police have laid down certain conditions for the rally, including no march, no tractor-trollies and no weapons in central Delhi.
AAP has received permission from the concerned authorities to hold a rally for an attendance of more than 20,000 people, AAP leader Gopal Rai informed news agency PTI.
While AAP leaders have portrayed the rally as the Opposition’s protest against Kejriwal’s arrest, the Congress has said that it is not a ‘person-specific’ rally.
The Delhi Police in its notice stated that the event will happen on Sunday from 9.30 am to 2 pm.
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